Category Archives: Progress

People wanting to volunteer can send emails to kaschwable@gmail.com. When people send emails telling what their interests are, we can work together and figure out what they want to do and how we can plug them in, she said.

Kathy Schwable makes sure fire doesn't spread as they do a controlled burn at Riverside Natural Area Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020 - a year ago Saturday (notice what the weather looked like then) on Conservation Way in Hamilton. The Hamilton Conservation Corps performed the controlled burns at the Riverside Natural Area to eradicate invasive plant species from the prairie. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Other progress was made in recent months. A scouting Eagle project rebuilt the Floodplain Forest Trail there. And Girl Scouts put in a pollinator bed near the bike trail in the area near the citys wastewater treatment plant.

The internal structure of a greenhouse was built in Joyce Park at the Hamilton Ecological Education and Nature Center, the building that had been used by the Joe Nuxhall driving range. Volunteers in coming months will be sought for help with that.

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Park volunteers made progress in Hamilton during tough year, more opportunities to help available - Hamilton Journal News

Iran announced on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with South Korea on ways to unlock Iranian assets currently held in South Korean banks. Some $7 billion in Iranian oil revenues are being held by South Korea in accordance with sanctions imposed on Tehran by the United States.

Confirming the report, the South Korean foreign ministry said, Our government has been in talks with Iran about ways to use the frozen assets, and the Iran side has expressed its consent to the proposals we have made, reported South Koreas Yonhap News Agency.

The actual unfreezing of the assets will be carried out through consultations with related countries, including the United States, added the ministry.

In early January, Iran seized a South Korean tanker and its crew in the Persian Gulf. Irans offer to release the crew, minus the captain, coincided with South Koreas confirmation that it has been in talks and made progress with the United States regarding ways the assets can be released, according to Yonhap.

In other news, Iran agreed on Sunday to continue to allow limited access to its nuclear sites for the next three months to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran has been threatening to cut off all IAEA inspections as per a law passed by the Iranian parliament in November stating that if the other parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement do not fulfill their obligations by Feb. 21, IAEA inspections, among other parts of the agreement, will be canceled.

After the Trump administration pulled out of the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018, the United States began reimposing sanctions on Iran and even adding harsher new ones, which the Islamic Republic considered a violation of the agreement.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi, who was in Tehran to negotiate the continued inspections, said the two sides had reached a temporary, technical understanding for the three-month interim period that would allow the necessary degree of monitoring and verification of Irans nuclear sites.

The compromise by Iran gives Tehran time to work out an agreement with the Biden administration, which has indicated that it would like to rejoin the nuclear agreement. Biden has said Iran must first return to full compliance before the United States will re-enter the deal, while Iran says that America must lift all sanctions before Tehran will comply.

Complicating matters for the United States is the discovery by IAEA inspectors of unexplained uranium particles at two sites that were recently inspected. The inspectors had been denied access to the sites for months, reported Reuters.

On Feb. 18, three days before the Iranian laws cut-off date of Feb. 21 which coincided with Grossis arrival in Tehran, France, Britain, Germany and the United States issued a joint statement saying they were united in underlining the dangerous nature of a decision to limit IAEA access.

The post South Korea, Iran progress in talks to release $7 billion in Iranian assets appeared first on JNS.org.

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South Korea, Iran progress in talks to release $7 billion in Iranian assets - Cleveland Jewish News

FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- One tenet of the Fairview City Schools vision is to learn differently. That aligns perfectly with the districts parent-based group Advocates for Preparedness and Progress (APP) motto of Learn how to Learn.

Were just a group of parents and citizens who really support that voice to increase awareness on education, said APP co-founder Jill Archambeau, who has two children in the Fairview Park City Schools.

We just want to support 21st century learning, she said.

Its not about regurgitating or memorizing. Twenty-first century learning is about creating the skills how to learn and creating the analytical outline of how to solve the problems. We really want kids to be engaged in their own learning, not because they have to take a test to get a grade but because theyre going to use that information later in life to be successful and to have a rewarding career.

The group promotes 21st century education curriculum within the district through community involvement. This includes its spring virtual project-based-learning initiative Be the Change, which begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday (March 2).

Were going to launch this project, and then well do monthly Zoom meetings to touch base, to inspire ideas, to provide direction and feedback and really encourage everybody who wants to participate, Archambeau said.

The Be the Change community project combines real-life problem-solving and project-based learning.

We want to demonstrate stewardship and for everybody to really take action, Archambeau said.

Fairview High School intervention specialist and APP member Lori Oxley, who has a child at the Early Education Center, hopes community members create something meaningful to them.

We want them to document or monitor their projects with photos that can be included at the end at our innovative showcase presented to the community, Oxley said. We also want them to work in learning pods.

We invite them to couple with their family or a community member or friend they social distance with and create something thats special. We also feel that this project will help empower these individuals to see how change can start small and also grow into something bigger.

Created in 2019, APP early on scheduled quarterly meetings, sponsored educational documentary movie nights and held College Now presentations.

Archambeau said the hope is the group can return to its original goal as the world slowly returns to normal. APP membership is at roughly 30 community members, but the hope is to grow interest.

Wed love to see this group grow into other local districts as well, Oxley said.

Superintendent Bill Wagner said APP has been very helpful over the past few years, not only sharing information with other parents about 21st century learning but also explaining why education looks so different compared to when they went to school.

Its truly a group that is for parents, by parents, Wagner said. They pull together information and resources and help other parents navigate and understand the rapidly changing educational landscape that exists today.

If parents are looking for how to best support their children in this highly digital and information-rich age, the APP group can help.

Read more news from the Sun Post Herald.

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Fairview Parks Advocates for Preparedness and Progress group launches community-based Be the Change initia - cleveland.com

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49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa had his 2020 cut well short when he tore his ACL in Week 2 against the Jets.

He was coming off a defensive rookie of the year season, recording 9.0 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, and 25 quarterback hits in the regular season. Then he had 4.0 sacks and three tackles for loss in San Franciscos three postseason games, as the club lost to Kansas City in Super Bowl LIV.

Bosa is expected to be ready for the regular season, and apparently anticipates displaying significant improvement.

Youll see my progress on the field next year. Tell them Im gonna be better, Bosa said on Monday, via Josina Anderson.

Bosa has a history of recovering from a serious knee injury to perform well. He also tore an ACL in high school, before starring on the defensive line at Ohio State.

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Nick Bosa: Youll see my progress on the field next year - NBC Sports

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. Finian the cat has made leaps and bounds in progress since nearly freezing to death.

A woman brought him to Crashs Landing, a local animal rescue, nine days ago after finding him in Cedar Springs.

RELATED: Cat nearly freezes to death, Grand Rapids clinic monitoring health

Back then, he weighed about four-and-a-half pounds.

Now, Finian is 6.88 pounds and eating his weight in canned food every day, his vet says.

Finian the frozen cat update

Crash's Landing

Crash's Landing

The vet will move to the next step in his treatment on Thursday, which involves anesthesia, flushing Finians ear canals to treat his middle ear infection and extracting his rotten teeth.

Finian also has an exposed bone on his amputated tail, but that doesnt seem to be bothering him too much and may not need to be addressed.

Crashs Landing has received more than $2,000 in donations since Fox 17 told Finians story last week.

Hes also been receiving lots of donated blankets and sweaters.

Crash's Landing

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Finian the cat makes 'leaps and bounds' in progress after nearly freezing to death - Fox17

PORTAGE, Mich. (AP) President Joe Biden toured a state-of-the art coronavirus vaccine plant Friday, intent on showcasing progress even as extreme winter weather across the U.S. handed his vaccination campaign its first major setback, delaying shipment of about 6 million doses and causing temporary closures of inoculation sites in many communities.

While acknowledging the weather is slowing up the distribution, Biden said at the Pfizer plant in Michigan that he believes well be approaching normalcy by the end of this year. His speech melded a recitation of his administrations accomplishments in its first month confronting the pandemic, a vigorous pitch for his $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill and criticism of his predecessor.

The disruptions caused by frigid temperatures, snow and ice have left the White House and states scrambling to make up lost ground as three days worth of vaccine shipments were temporarily delayed. Even the presidents trip to see Pfizers largest plant was pushed back a day due to a storm affecting the nations capital.

Before the trip, White House coronavirus response adviser Andy Slavitt said the federal government, states and local vaccinators are going to have to redouble efforts to catch up after the interruptions. The setback comes just as the vaccination campaign seemed to be on the verge of hitting its stride. All the backlogged doses should be delivered in the next several days, Slavitt said, still confident that the pace of vaccinations will recover.

Biden has set a goal of administering 100 million shots in his administrations first 100 days, and he said Friday thats still on track and its only a beginning.

He went on to say that by the end of July his administration can deliver 600 million doses for Americans. Still, Biden cautioned that timetable could change, citing the current weather delays and concerns about new strains of the virus as well as the possibility that production rates could fluctuate.

I believe well be approaching normalcy by the end of this year, he said. God willing, this Christmas will be different than last, but I cant make that commitment to you.

Taking a swipe at former President Donald Trump, whom he did not cite by name, Biden allowed that the previous administration shepherded the approval of two highly effective vaccines. But its one thing to have a vaccine available, the problem was how to get to peoples arms.

The Pfizer plant Biden toured, near Kalamazoo, produces one of the two federally approved COVID-19 shots. Weather-related delays have affected distribution of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Introducing Biden before the speech, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla called his administration a great ally and cited a range of actions that have helped the company as it looked for ways to increase production. In a press release, the company said it has been shipping 5 million doses a week in the U.S. on average, and expects to more than double that by the end of March.

Biden walked through an area of the plant called the freezer farm, which houses some 350 ultra-cold freezers, each capable of storing 360,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine. Double-masked, the president stopped to talk with some of the workers.

The scene was a sharp contrast to the vibe across much of the country, where progress was on hold. Bad weather forced many injection sites to temporarily close, from Texas to New England, and held up shipments of needed doses.

In Memphis, a city where some of the doses were stranded, the storm stymied 77-year-old Bill Bayne in his pursuit of his second dose. He got his first shot Jan. 29 and was told hed hear back about the second sometime this week. With local vaccination sites shut down, no notification came.

Bayne said the eight inches of snow outside his home is the most hes seen in 50 years of living there.

I want that shot bad enough, Bayne said. I wouldve gotten there some way.

White House adviser Slavitt said the 6 million doses delayed wont spoil and the vaccine is safe and sound under refrigeration.

But as shipments resume and scale up, vaccinators in communities across the country are going to have to work overtime to get shots into arms. We as an entire nation will have to pull together to get back on track, Slavitt told reporters at the White House coronavirus briefing.

Slavitt said about 1.4 million doses were being shipped Friday as the work of clearing the backlog begins.

A confluence of factors combined to throw off the vaccination effort. First, shippers like FedEx, UPS and pharmaceutical distributor McKesson all faced challenges with snowed-in workers. Then, said Slavitt, road closures in many states kept trucks from delivering their assigned doses of vaccine. And finally, more than 2,000 vaccination sites were in areas with power outages.

Still, the government is going ahead with plans to open five new mass vaccination centers, one in Philadelphia, and four others in the Florida cities of Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville.

The U.S. had administered an average of 1.7 million doses per day in the week that ended on Tuesday, evidence that the pace of the vaccination program was picking up. Now, the question is how long it will take to recover from the impact of the weather-related delays.

The delays were so severe that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker suggested he would explore sending his states national guard to collect doses from icebound shipping hubs in Memphis, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky.

The Virginia Department of Health reported that it was expecting delays on about 90% of its expected 120,000 doses this week and warned that delays could cascade into next week.

In North Carolina, none of the more than 163,000 first and second doses of the Moderna vaccine scheduled to arrive this week have been delivered, the state health department said. Only a limited number of the nearly 127,000 expected Pfizer vaccines have been shipped.

Oklahoma moved to reschedule vaccine clinics to this weekend, when it expects its 110,000 doses to be delivered, aiming to make up appointments from this week.

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APs Suman Naishadham in Phoenix contributed to the report.

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Biden defends progress on COVID as weather delays 6M shots - The Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) Asian shares were mixed on Monday as hopes for a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic with the global rollout of vaccines were countered by worries about inflation and continuing economic damage.

Benchmarks rose in Hong Kong and Japan but fell in South Korea and Australia. Investors remain focused on the future of global economies badly hit by COVID-19 and when and whether there will be enough stimulus to fix it.

But the U.S. $1.9 trillion economic package proposed by President Joe Biden also heralds hope for export-reliant regional economies.

Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.8% in morning trading to 30,250.83. South Koreas Kospi dipped 0.3% to 3,097.27. Australias S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, inching down less than 0.1% to 6,789.80. Hong Kongs Hang Seng added nearly 0.4% to 30,750.83, while the Shanghai Composite fell less than 0.1% to 3,694.81.

Japan began administering vaccines for COVID-19 last week. It was the last of the Group of Seven industrial nations to get started, beginning with health workers. Prospects for further shipments of vaccine remain uncertain, according to Taro Kono, the Japanese minister tasked with overseeing the effort.

Vaccination drives are set to start soon in other Asian nations, such as Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Investors remain focused on the future of global economies badly hit by COVID-19 and the potential for more stimulus to fix it.

The U.S. House of Representatives is likely to vote on Bidens proposed package by the end of the week. It would include $1,400 checks to most Americans, additional payments for children, and billions of dollars in aid to state and local governments as well as additional aid to businesses impacted by the pandemic.

But timing is everything, Stephen Innes of Axi said in a commentary. He noted that inflation concerns are overhanging the market, as the economy heals from the pandemic downturn while the Biden administration strives to recover the millions of jobs lost.

The next leg of the reflation will have to be carried more and more by a continued recovery in economic growth, as fiscal and monetary stimulus gets increasingly packed into the price, he said.

One challenge is to keep inflation in check and minimize trauma to the markets from adjustments in the Federal Reserves ultra-supportive monetary policy.

After an impressive start to the year, bullish sentiment is wavering, said Jeffrey Halley of Oanda.

At this stage the price action looks corrective and I expect equities to find a wall of buyers on any material dips, he said.

Last week, the S&P 500 extended its losing streak to close 0.2% on Friday at 3,906.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite closed essentially flat, while another strong showing by smaller companies pushed the Russell 200 index to a 2.2% gain.

In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude added 50 cents to $59.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $1.27 to $59.26 per barrel on Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 62 cents to $63.53 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 105.61 Japanese yen from 105.47 yen late Friday. The euro cost $1.2116, down from $1.2125.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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Asian shares mixed as investors await progress on stimulus - The Associated Press

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) highlights the past years oncologic advances and identifies important areas for future research in its 2021 Report on Progress Against Cancer, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Molecular profiling in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, which has allowed providers to improve patient outcomes by identifying the molecular and genetic signatures specific to a patients tumor and subsequently selecting the appropriate targeted intervention, was selected as ASCOs Advance of the Year.

This selection recognizes the treatment advances made possible by molecular testing for patients with GI cancers, the 26-member expert committee said.

ASCO also underscored additional advances that were particularly impactful in 2020, including biomarker-driven treatment approaches to other cancers such as lung and colorectal cancer; the progress made by administering targeted therapies to patients with earlier-stage disease; combinations of therapies that improve survival but do not increase toxicity; and the increasing availability of targeted interventions for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers.

The report also specified research priorities for 2021, which include the multifactorial response that is needed to achieve equity in cancer research. ASCO recognizes that individuals who are Black, situated in rural areas, have a lower income and education, or are otherwise underrepresented have higher mortality rates for multiple cancers.

Disparities in cancer research is a complex, multifaceted issue requiring a multifactorial response, the ASCO committee said. They noted that the response must address interrelated barriers to trial participation and structural and systemic challenges that may inhibit research that benefits underserved populations.

Additional research foci for 2021 include further optimizing multimodal treatment of solid tumors, bolstering precision medicine modalities for pediatric patients and rare cancers, improving care for older adults, predicting response and resistance to immunotherapies, identifying potentially malignant lesions earlier, reducing the effect of obesity on cancer incidence and outcomes, and developing and integrating artificial intelligence and deep learning into cancer research.

ASCO also acknowledged the importance of federal funding to cancer research, but noted that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could direct focus away from cancer research funding. ASCO urged clinicians to contact members of Congress to ask them to support an increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) through ASCO.org/actnetwork.

Disclosures: Some of the study authors disclosed financial relationships with the pharmaceutical industry and/or themedicaldeviceindustry. For a full list of disclosures, please refer to the original study.

Reference

Smith SM, Wachter K, Burris HA III, et al. clinical cancer advances 2021: ASCOs report on progress against cancer. J Clin Oncol. Published online February 2, 2021. doi:10.1200/JCO.20.03420

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ASCO Publishes 2021 Report on Progress Against Cancer - Cancer Therapy Advisor

The U.N. says Yemens warring sides did not achieve progress in their latest round of negotiations over a prisoner swap

By BY SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

February 21, 2021, 8:37 PM

2 min read

CAIRO -- Yemens warring sides did not achieve progress in their latest round of negotiations over a prisoner swap, the United Nations said on Sunday.

The talks started late last month in the Jordanian capital Amman between representatives of the internationally recognized government and the Houthi rebels. The prisoner exchange is part of a peace deal struck in 2018 in Sweden.

U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said the two sides did not agree to release prisoners during this round of talks concluded Sunday in Amman.

I am disappointed that this round of talks did not amount to what we saw in Switzerland last September which resulted in the historic release of 1056 detainees, he said.

In October, the warring sides achieved the largest-ever prisoner swap of the war, releasing more than 1,000 detainees. That followed occasional releases of dozens of prisoners over the past two years, which also served as gestures of good faith, stoking hopes the factions would implement the 2018 agreement.

The prisoner swap talks were facilitated by the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Griffiths urged the warring sides to work on the implementation of what they agreed to and expand the arrangements to release more detainees soon.

He repeated his calls for the unconditional release of all sick, wounded, elderly and children detainees as well as detained civilians, including women and journalists.

The two sides traded the blame for the failure of the talks.

Yemens devastating conflict erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the countrys north. That prompted a U.S.-backed Arab military coalition to intervene months later in a bid to restore the government of Yemeni President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi to power.

The conflict has killed some 130,000 people and spawned the worlds worst humanitarian disaster.

The failure in the prisoner swap talks has come amid an intensive attack by the Houthis on the government-held Marib province.

The Houthi attacks forced several thousand of internally displaced people, or IDPs, to flee from Maribs district of Swarih eastward to the provinces capital, after the heavy fighting left them without water, electricity, health and educational needs.

Marib province has served as a sort of haven for around 1 million Yemenis who have fled Houthi offensives since the start of the war.

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UN says no progress in Yemen talks over prisoner swap - ABC News

A new drone flyover shows that Tesla is making progress toward completion at its Moss Landing Megapack project that should become the worlds largest battery system.

We first learned of the project at PG&Es Moss Landing substation when theysubmittedit to CPUC andthe company was in talks with Tesla in 2017.

It involves four separateenergy storage projects, and two of them should become the worlds largest battery systems.

Dynegy is going to deploy a300MW/1,200MWhproject on PG&Es grid while the Tesla project will be 182.5MW/730MWh, which could eventually go up to 1.1GWh.

In 2018, we obtainedTeslas proposal for the project,and it shows that the company plans to use Megapack instead of its usual Powerpack for large utility-scale projects.

Early last year,the project was officially approved,and theystarted construction on the first phaseof the project in July.

We reported back in October when the first Megapacks Teslas new container-size battery system for large energy storage projects started to be installed at the location.

Tesla has kept delivering more Megapacks to PG&E since, and a new drone flyover shows that the projects first phase is nearing completion:

However, theres still a lot of work to do before they can turn the project online and start helping the grid.

The new energy storage capacity at Moss Landing is going to be used to replace peaker plants, and it is expected to save the electric utility over $100 million:

PG&E forecasts the Moss Landing BESS will save more than $100 million over the 20-year life of the project, when compared to the forecasted local capacity requirements and associated procurement costs that would have been necessary in absence of the BESS.

PG&Es Moss Landing project is not expected to be completed until the second half of the year.

The new capacity will boost Teslas energy storage deployment, which has been hitting new record highs every quarter.

Recently, Tesla confirmed that it has deployed a record 1,584 MWh of energy storage in Q4 almost 200% increase year-over-year and 100% increase quarter-over-quarter.

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Teslas new worlds-largest battery is showing progress in drone flyover - Electrek